Space band for linotype machines



- Feb; 19,1929. 1,702,782

D.- s. KENNEDY SPACE BAND FOR LINOTYPE MACHINES Filed Dec. 13, 1927 2 Shets-Sheet 1 I B I Q51: .HI I.

1mm! J a J I v I MZNV NTOB Zvs v D; s. KENNEDY SPACE BAND FOR LINOTYPE MCHINEQ Feb. .19, 1929 Filled Dgc. 13, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 nlllmullllllllllll -INVNTOR Patented Feb. 19, 1929.

lJN-ITED STATE PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID s. K NNE z oF BROOKLYN, New YORK, As'sIqNoa nememnrma LING} TYPE COMPANYKA ,conromrron or INEW roan.

SPACE BAND FOR" LINOTYPE-MACHINES.

Applicationfiled December 13', 1927. .sieriarnoizaaeza'.

This invention relates to justifying spacers or spacebands such as those used in the come mercial linotype machines for the justifica tion of a matrix line preparatory to the cast ing operation. Ordinarily each 'spaceband comprises a short wedge-shaped member such condition, this dimension bearing a fixed relation to certain parts of the: machine. They are also produced in several different thicknesses, rangingapproximately from a I l1Il6,33 of Fig. 2;

minimum of thirty-two thousandths of an inch to fifty-two thousandths at'the sliding point when unexpanded, so as to afford the proper spacing forvarious classes of printed matter. There are certain classes of work, however, wherein the required word spacing is so slight that even the. thinnest sp'acebands are much too thick to be used. In such cases, it has heretofore been necessary to resort to what is known as solid spacing, that is to say, to the use of non-expansible blank matrices or spaces of the requisitethinness. In most instances, these blank spaces are carried as pi and must be composed in line entirely by hand. This-old practice requires extreme care and skill in'justitying-the individual lines, and moreover is extremely slow, tedious, and expensive.

The present invention is intended toovercome these and other diflicultiea and contemplates a spaceb'andot the regular expansible variety but which is much thinner than heretofore and which, at the same-time, is capa ble of withstanding the strains of jiustifica tion. without bonding or breaking. A charaoteristic feature of the improved spaceband is that it is substantially shorter than the standard spaceband and forthisreasOn may be made proportionately thinner while still possessing the required strength and rigidity. In the preferred embodiment illustrated, the short stationary wedge-shaped membe at the improved spaceband of standard'length and form, but the relatively movable wedge-shape 'member is approximately one-half shorter than the correspondingmember of the standard spaceband, such one-half reduction in length of the movable member being found to answer the requirements very satisfactorily.

The invention also includes certain improvements in different elements of the machine intended to provide for the handling and operation of the improved spacebands.

These will be more clearly understood from the detailed description to follow.

Referring to the drawings: p

F ig. 1 is a front view of a portion of a linotype machine Showing the application o'fthe present invention; y M I Fig. 2 is an'enlarged side elevat-ion,- partly broken away, of the spacer magazine equipped for handling the improved spacebands; I v

Fig. 3 is, a transverse section take on the Fig. 7 is a detail transverse sectionthrough an enlarged cross section of the on the/line 6"6 the justifier showing the spacing block detach ably secured. thereto.

Referring to Fig. 1, the matrices and spacersare released from theirzrespective storage magazines A, B, by the operation of the lkey- 7 board C and are delivered,- one by one, to the assembler D wherein they arecomposed in line. Theassembler is then raised and. the composed :line transferred horizontally through the intermediate channel E to the dotted line position 1 where it is received by the first elevator F, which immediately descends to present the-linein' the casting posi tion 2 betweenthe confining jaws G, G, the latter serving to' sustain the :line end\vise as the spacebands are thrust upwardly therethroughby the justifi-cation slide H. After a the line is jiustified and the cast is made. the first elevator lifts the matrices and spacebands to the dotted position 3 from which they are shifted to the upper transfer channel for separation and s'ubsequentlyretnrned to their storage magazines A-rlfil'd B, :res'pee tively; r

As shown in Fig. l, the improved spaceband comprises two oppositely tapered or wedge-shaped members J, J, whose outer I ary part, being provided at its upper end with supporting ears 7' which hold it against movement during justiiication; while the longer member J is the i'novable part, being slidably connected to the member J in such manner as to be shoved upwardly through a composed line in effecting the justification thereof. Although the present improvements are equally applicable to other types of spacebands, they are herewith illustrated as applied to the particular type of spaceband dirclosed in the patent to Beck, No. 1,424,870. As more fully disclosed in said patent, the movable member J is formed so as to present two marginal bars 7" and a centrally located bar 3 The latter bar is beveled on its op posite edges to engage a pair of undercut guides 7' formed on the inner inclined face of the stationary member J, and the sliding joint or connection thus provided serves to hold the said members in proper contacting relation while permitting the member J to be moved relatively to the member J in expanding and contracting the band a whole. At their upper ends, the bars j, j of the member J merge into a thin connecting web 7' and, at their lower ends, are connected together by a longer and much thicker web portion j.

The standard spaceband is illustrated in Fig. 5, and by comparing it with the improved. spaceband shown in Fig. l, it will be seen that the two differ only in respect to length and thickness. The short stationary sections J are practically of the same length in both cases, but the movable sections J differ substantially in length, the section J of the improved spaceband being approximately one-half as long as the section J of the standard spaceband, thus making the over-all length of the improved spaceband about two-thirds that of the standard spaceband. It is on account of this difference in length between them that the improved spaccband can be and made proportionately thinner, shown, it now being apparent that the shortening of the movable section J of the im iroved spaceband permits it to be thinned down to whatever extent it is shortened without destroying the inclination of the wedge surfaces. Notwithstanding its extreme thinness, the movable section of the improved soaccband, by reason also of its reduced length, will possess ample strength and rigidity to resist bending or breakage when thrust upwardly through the line. In other words the shortening ot' the movable section brings its lower end, where the expanding force is applied, correspondingly closer to the where rethe thickness of the standard parts were great i enough to allow this to be done.

In carrying out the invention, certam changes have also been made in the storage magazine'B and the. justification slide H in order to cooperate with the improved spa-cebands.

As ordinarily constructed (see Fig. 2), the magazine B is provided with a pair of inclined "ails B from which the spacebands are suspended by their projecting ears j. the case of standard spacebands, the leading one in the magazine is arrested at its upper end in operative relation to vertically disposed escapcmentfingers B by shoulders B formed on the rails B, and it is supported at its lower end by the upper edge of the chute plate B which is curved inwardly and ar ranged so that the band will stand at an inclination with its upper end foremost, as indicated by the dotted lines. The release of the band is effected in the usual way from the keyboard C through a lever and the rocking arms B, the latter being pivotally con nected to the respective escapement lingers B. Thus, as the arms 1 6 are rocked upwardly, the fingers engage the ears of the leading spaceband and lift it over the shoulders B allowing the lower end of the ban d to swing by gravity clear of the plate Bio a position over the chute. At the same time, the ears ride ovcrthe top of the shoulders l3 and the band drops.through the chute to the assembler.

lll)

Inasmuch as the llllPIOVOCl spacebandr-s are 7 much shorter than the standard bands, they would fail to engage the arresting plate l3" and hence would swing forwardly upon their ears to a vertical position within the magazine and so be incapable of cooperating properly with the escapenient fingers B Additional. means are therefore provided for arresting these shorter spacebands at the required inclination. Such means,in the pres ent instance, comprise (Figs. 2 and 3) a pin K which extends across the magazine from one side to the other and is arranged in position-to engage the lower ends of theimproved bands as they slide down the rails 13. As best shown in Fig. 3, the crosspin K is provided with a screwhead K and a threaded portion K which latter screws into with the customary jnstification bar H,

which has a range of movement controlled by an operating cam on the main shaft of the machine, all. as well understood. In order that the standard parts may be utilized to operate the shorter sections J of the improved spacebands, the justification bar H is provided with a building-up block or pad L, which increases the height of the justifica-. tion bar sufficiently to compensate for the reduced length of the movable sections. As

preferred the pad L is detachably connected to the justi'fication bar, as by means of screws L, so that it may be applied or. removed at will according as the machine is equipped with the improved or the standard spacebands. In this way the regular operating cam may be employed without change to cooperate with spacebands of one kind or the other as desired.

Having thus described my invention, its construction and mode of operation, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is as follows:

1. In a linotype machine, a spacer magazine for handling spacebands of two lengths, one to the exclusion of the other, comprising an escapement device for releasing the spacebands one at a time, a stop for arresting spacebands of standard length in operative relation thereto, and auxiliary means movable into or out of operative position, for arresting spacebands of substantially less than standard length in operative relation to said escapement device.

2. In or for a linotype machine, a justifying spaceband of less than standard thickness and comprising a relatively stationary wedgeshaped member and a movable cooperating wedge-shaped member sli-dably connected thereto, said movable member being of substantially less than standard length. to give it the required strength and rigidity.

3. In or for a linotype machine, a justifying spaceband of less than standard thickness and comprising a relatively stationary wedge-shaped member of substantially standard length and a movable cooperating wedgeshaped member slidably connected thereto, said movable member being approximately one-half of standard length to give it the required strength and rigidity,

4. In a linotype machine, the combination of a series of circulating spacebands of substanti ally less than standard length, a standard pusher or j ustifier, and a spacing block detachably secured thereto to compensate for the reduced length. of the spacebands, said block being removable at will to adapt the pusher to spacebands of standard length. I

5. In a linotype machine, the combination of a series of circulating spacebands of substantially less than standard length, a standard magazine wherein said spacebands are stored and equipped with an escapement de vice arranged to cooperate with the .upper ends of the spacebands, and a stop associated with the'magazine for arresting the spacebands at their lower ends in operative relation to the escapement device, said stop be ing removable at will to adapt the magazine to handle spacebands of standard length 6. In a linotype machine, the combination 01": a series 01": circulating spacebands of substantially less than standard length, a stand ard magazine wherein said spacebands are stored andequipped with an escapement device arranged to cooperate with the upper ends of the spacebands, means associated with the magazine for arresting the spacebands at their lower ends in operative relation to said device, said means being removable at will to adapt the magazine to handle spacebands of standard length, a standard pusher or jnstifier, and a spacing block detachably connected thereto for increasing the height of the justifier to compensate for the reduced length of the spacebands, said spacing block likewise beingremovable at will to adapt the pusher to spacebands of standard length.

In testimony whereof, I have affixed my signature hereto.

DAVID S. KENNEDY. 

